In With The New

Let's Review The Old

We did it! We made it through another year. We’re either bettered or battered, but we’re here. That’s something, right? Ok, I don’t need to take a long, hard look in the mirror to realize that I didn’t achieve any miraculous resolutions from last year. All I need is a glance. However, good and even great things did happen despite my lack of preparation and execution. Let it be a reminder to us all that happy accidents still rule the day.

One happy accident has been my readers. Having my work be read is better than money, please tell no one, and readership increased substantially over the past year. I’ve been making comics for quite awhile, with each reader carefully obtained like a precious stone, when things suddenly clicked a few years ago. There was no planning involved, I just worked like an monkey with an infinite amount of time until people liked what I was typing. I’ve learned that being an overnight success takes at least a decade.

It should be noted that the readers who are not better than money have been blocked.

I’ve never done this, but I’m going to select one comic from each month last year as a representation of that month. Each comic stuck out for one reason or another. I hope. Maybe I should’ve planned this better, but we’re on a happy accident theme and I’m sticking to it.

January: This one was a great success and brought in a lot of new readers who were blocked. Ha! Just kidding. Only the most hateful were blocked. What I like most about this is that it’s the POV of the cashier. A cashier knows who is standing way too close and constantly nudging forward. It’s disconcerting and…what’s the word…annoying. Very annoying. I learned that drawing your pet peeve does not get rid of said peeve.

February: There was quite a bit to choose from in February. Surprising. I have to go with Berle hiding out of sight during Todd’s date and slapping him whenever he said something stupid. We should all be so lucky to have a friend like that.

March: This was the middle of my “Tabby the Cheerleader” storyline, and it’s the silliest one. I love the idea of a “Rah” magically changing customer attitudes.

April: I just liked drawing a shopping cart on fire. That’s a good reason to be a favorite, right? Anytime you see someone shopping with a cute dog in their shopping cart, which is a health code violation in most places, we should be able to set the cart on fire. I love dogs but I don’t want my food touching whatever dogs have on their fur. I’m pretty sure what some of the stuff on their fur is and it’s worse than most preservatives.

May: This one was a surprise hit, but it’s my favorite because I got to show how some people actually spend more time complaining about waiting than the actual time they were waiting. If you have to wait thirty minutes, you might spend the rest of the day complaining about it.

June: I introduced Rusty in February and he was still around by the summer, which is a good sign he’ll stick around. I personally love Rusty. He’s based on a couple of people and if you have a Rusty where you work give him a hug for me.

July: I just loved this joke. I made it in real life and then passed it along to Tabby. Sometimes I achieve a state of Tabby, but I’m never as cool as her.

August: In August, Berle went to purgatory and was rescued by Ian and Tabby. So weird. I was switching day jobs in real life and was in a kind of purgatory myself. August is always weird anyway, so it was time for Berle to shine. By shining, I mean almost dying.

September: September is my fiscal year. I was born in September, so it’s the month I accept an extra digit into my life. There were a lot of comics I liked, but this was the favorite. Sadly, an Emotional Attack Animal should remain a fantasy. Some people are emotionally on the attack at all times.

October: I had trouble writing this comic and was surprised it came out so well. I was more surprised by how well it was received. All comics that were difficult to write but turn out so well should be celebrated.

November: I drew part of Tabby’s cat retreat in the mountains for the first time. As always, I must add that this place doesn’t exist. It should, but it doesn’t.

December: I just loved writing this one. I love the idea of running from an awkward social situation. Why can’t we just run? It’s one more thing from childhood that should be brought into adulthood. If anything, it would be funny.

Happy New Year to you all. Thank you so much for reading. You make life worth living. Usually “life worth living” statements are easy to dismiss as an exaggeration. This one really isn’t.